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Epigraph Vol. 18 Issue 2, Fall 2016

A message from the ILAE President Elect

Sam Wiebe President Elect, ILAE

Dear Colleagues,

First of all, I am honoured to have been elected as President of the ILAE for the period 2017-2021. Thank you for entrusting me to serve our organization in this key leadership role, which I look forward to with much anticipation. The next step in assembling the leadership team for the new term is the elections of the officers who will serve on the management committee, followed by elections of the regional chairs who will constitute the new executive committee. Together, we will work on reaching the objectives that have been broadly set out in my candidacy statement. There is much to be done. I look to the tasks ahead with excitement and anticipation, but also with a good dose of realism. Achieving our goals will require energy and dedication, but especially collaboration and transparency. New ideas and new approaches are welcome.

In my current role as Treasurer, I am happy to report that the League's finances are stable. The financial policies adopted by the League are achieving the intended goal, which is a sustainable organization able to carry out its mission in the face of declining revenues from various sources.

Notable successes at an international level include a favourable renewal of our contract with Wiley Blackwell for the publication of Epilepsia; the launch of the League’s third journal, Epilepsia Open, which will take place during the European Congress of Epileptology in Prague in September 2016; an increasing impact factor of our main journal, Epilepsia; and successful regional congresses in Asia and Latin America with reduced registration fees. In addition, commissions and task forces continue to create invaluable educational and scientific resources for a broad range of purposes and audiences. We have become a leaner, more efficient organization, and this will allow us to expand our activities and pursue new enterprises.